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Yet another pornographic ad is making the rounds on YouTube (Update: Statement)
- For the second time this month, a very NSFW YouTube porn ad is making its way around.
- As before, the ad looks “normal” but has a pornographic video overlayed on top of it.
- Google has issued a statement on the matter.
Update, December 1, 2023 (11:50 AM ET): Google has responded to our request for a statement on this matter. We cover the statement in more depth in an article about the ongoing YouTube porn ad problem, but here it is in full:
Bad actors sometimes obfuscate content that violates our policies to evade detection. To combat this, we invest heavily in the enforcement of our policies and are constantly monitoring our network for abuse. We’ve removed the ad in question for violating our policy against sexually explicit content and have taken action against the associated account consistent with our policies.
Original article, November 30, 2023 (01:00 PM ET): Two weeks ago, we told you about a pornographic YouTube advertisement that was appearing in people’s mobile feeds. You can read more about that in our original coverage. Now, we have another YouTube porn ad that’s live on the site, and it is incredibly similar to the first one.
As before, this mobile ad features a standard video clip. Overlayed on top of that clip, though, is pornographic content, complete with sound. The ad is connected to a social network app with a bogus support page and gibberish email. Judging from the similarities between this ad and the one before — including the “genre” of pornographic content involved — we can safely assume this ad and the first were created by the same person(s).
You can see the ad for yourself if you like, but, as before, you should only view it if you are OK with seeing and hearing pornographic material. If you’re OK with that, a recording of the YouTube porn ad is on Reddit.
When we caught sight of the original ad earlier this month, we reached out to Google for a statement. The company said this:
We don’t allow ads on our platform that contain sexually explicit content. We’ve removed the ad in question and have taken action against the associated account consistent with our policies.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Google’s actions have swayed the continued creation of this content. We have reached out to the company again with a list of questions:
- Why does this keep happening? How does an ad that’s this blatant get to the point of being live on YouTube?
- What disciplinary action is Google taking on the people who create these ads? It appears just blocking the account is not enough.
- How can the average YouTube user prevent themselves from stumbling across these ads? What tools does YouTube offer to protect them?
We will update this article if and when we hear back from the company with answers to these queries. In the meantime, be wary of mobile ads on YouTube until Google confirms this one has been removed.